


One For Taking Chances

by raendown



Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 Drabbles [20]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-02-01 00:38:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21298421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raendown/pseuds/raendown
Summary: She told him to tell her something she didn't know. He told her something she didn't expect.
Relationships: Uchiha Obito/Yamanaka Ino
Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 Drabbles [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1533161
Comments: 6
Kudos: 56





	One For Taking Chances

“Hey, hey miss!”

“I have a name, dead last.” Ino tossed her hair and kept walking, smirking to herself when she heard teeth grinding behind her. Kakashi-sensei was right. That insult had hit harder than all the other ones she used to needle her favorite prisoner with.

“Did Bakashi put you up to that!?” Obito demanded, smashing himself up against the bars of his cells to shout down the hallway at her. “Tell him he better not show his face around here or I’ll cave it in!”

“That’s why we keep you down here, darling. Ta!” With a wave Ino turned the corner and left for the night.

She was back again the next night, of course. Part of training to become a member for the interrogation team was learning how to deal with prisoners first hand and Ino had chosen the highest security prisoners as her rotation. What was the point in learning if she didn’t learn to be the best?

Admitting it would get her nowhere but after he had stopped frothing at the mouth and finally started talking to the therapists sent down to his cell every week Uchiha Obito had quickly become her favorite prisoner in the maximum security division. Losing the war had never seemed to be what bothered him and Ino couldn’t help but find that fascinating. The more time she spent on this rotation the more she could see the man underneath the crazy veneer that Kakashi-sensei might have once called friend.

“Hey!” a familiar voice called out to her as she passed and, as always, Ino tossed her hair with a smile.

“Use my name or I won’t answer.”

“Can’t use a name I don’t know!” Obito retorted with frustration in his voice.

Her footsteps paused and Ino turned to look at him with her eyebrows up near her hair line. Had she really never bothered to introduce herself? “You must at least see what clan I’m from,” she pointed out. “That much has to be totally obvious.”

“Of course I can see you’re a Yamanaka but that’s not _your_ name.” Her prisoner scoff and Ino reminded herself that Obito had been mostly raised in a cave with a madman. Manners and social protocol probably took a backburner to most other things. Sure he would have learned it for the ten or so years – how old was he again? – before the accident that landed him in Uchiha Madara's crazy clutches but brainwashing tended to do a number even on memories formed in the years before.

It was quite likely that Obito’s memories of his childhood were patchy at best, sad considering that was probably the only happy time in his life.

“My name is Ino,” she told him finally. He took a moment to mouth the syllables to himself.

“That’s a lovely name. Can I tell you something Ino?”

“If you like.” Bringing one hand up to study her nails, she couldn’t help getting another dig in. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”

“You look beautiful in the moonlight.”

That brought her up short. Ino gaped through the cell bars at the pink rising on Obito’s cheeks, for once in her life stunned in to silence, and had to admit that she hadn’t expected that. Had known it, yes. But she hadn’t expected it. That was startling enough on its own even without contemplating the ramifications of Obito trying for days in a row to catch her attention long enough to say such things to her.

“I-I’m flattered you think so,” she stammered out. “I should go…”

Obito nodded with an expression like a kicked puppy and that only made her step faster as she hurried off down the hall. Her cheeks were aflame by the time she made it around the corner, praying none of the other guards on rotation would say anything until she had figured out how she felt about this, how she wanted to handle this.

Because a prisoner Obito might be, a madman and a megalomaniac and possibly in jail for the rest of his life, but there was no denying that he was also very cute. Or that he had been on her mind for one reason or another since the day she signed up for duty here. And that was dangerous. Ino put her back to the wall and covered her face with both hands as soon as she was out of sight, scrubbing at her skin and then flinching to know that she’d probably just ruined an hour of carefully applied makeup.

An entire village full of cute boys and she just had to choose the one it would be the biggest challenge to date. Her father must be rolling in his grave. But then again she knew exactly what she would say if Inoichi were here right now.

Follow your heart, that had ever been his favorite advice for her. Ino peeked between her fingers where the corner of the hallway would lead her back to Obito. He did look pretty handsome in the moonlight himself.


End file.
